Thank God Madison, WI Hates America

So here is my confession, I geek out on really weird holidays. Halloween and Fourth of July. It's not that i am rah, rah America, but living in the Midwest does imbue you with a little small-town America nostalgia. Mostly because your drive to the nearest IKEA takes you through about twenty of those towns and by the time you get to the IKEA you feel like your head is going to explode because your two worlds have collided. But I digress. Typically, this is our number two party holiday where we do fried chicken, turn mac and cheese into a side dish, make homemade ice cream sandwiches, and send everyone out to the lawn for a little croquet and sparklers. I spend about two weeks in a heavy make out session with Martha Stewart Living and cry that I do not have perfect red white and blue bunting on MY porch.

So this year I was a little sad to admit that because of the remodel we were going to have to scale back. Our local fireworks show totally redeemed it though. Our fireworks themselves are typically awesome, but can, occasionally, be programmed to some really crappy music. Last year it was a bunch of random crap that the radio stations put up and it was like when all of your friends got high and went to see if you could match up The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd, and you, the only one not high, were left wondering what one had to do with the other and realizing you don't much care for Pink Floyd. This year though I was totally excited to hear it programmed to the prime American nostalgia of musicals, Beach Boys and early Beatles. I know that is totally lame but it made me totally happy because, to me, singing along with my daughter to the fireworks is what America is all about. No patriotism God Bless America shoved down your throat, we didn't even have to hear about the troops. The finale was programmed to the theme music to the HBO show, John Adams, a brilliant selection; reminiscent of early Americana without being the Star Spangled Banner. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the troops and their families, but there are a lot of wonderful people who sacrifice for America and work hard to make it a great country. It was nice to see a Fourth display that reminded us that the reason why people love America is when all is said and done about American consumerism and imperialism, we celebrate the birth of our nation and our love for our country by having a simple picnic and coming together as a community to watch lights in the sky.